Highlights
- Ahsoka’s Force power of Psychometry in the Star Wars series has upset many fans who find it to be lazy writing.
- This ability is considered rare and is typically something one is born with, not learned through training.
- The disregard for lore accuracy in the show has led to criticism of the writers, although Ahsoka’s relative success may be crucial to the project’s continuation.
Star Wars: Ahsoka made one addition to the lead character’s skillset that has many fans upset at the series, sparking a wave of complaints on social media concerning the change.
While technically being a spin-off of the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian, Dave Filoni revealed that Ahsoka has a link to Star Wars: Rebels, effectively continuing the overarching narrative of the animated universe that includes Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Tales of the Jedi, The Bad Batch, and more. Taking place after the dissolution of the Galactic Empire, the show gives fans a look at an older, wiser, and more powerful Ahsoka Tano than they got in the Clone Wars, complete with a stronger connection to the Force than in her Jedi days.
However, Ahsoka’s refined mastery of the Force has come with one big drawback for her live-action premiere, which beat The Mandalorian season 3 in one big way. In the second half of the show’s two-episode premiere, it is revealed for the first time that Ahsoka now possesses the Force power of Psychometry. This rare ability allows force sensitives to sense echoes of past events associated with a person, place, or thing by being in the vicinity of or coming with physical contact. The revelation has some fans in an uproar because Ahsoka has never displayed such abilities before, despite debuting in The Clone Wars as a gifted 14-year-old padawan and serving as a General during the eponymous war.
Psychometry is one of Star Wars‘ most powerful Force abilities, giving characters access to an unimaginable tool for tracking, discerning truth, and learning even the most obscure information. In the episode, for example, Ahsoka uses this ability to discover the events leading to Sabine Wren’s critical condition after she’s taken in for treatment by simply stepping into the room where the event happened. The ability cannot be learned through training, as every user in recorded lore has been born with the power, manifesting it well before their teen years, with the latest recorded incident of such an awakening happening to obscure force-sensitive Karr Nuq Sin at the age of 13.
While the Ahsoka reveal made for a cool moment, the disregard for lore accuracy from a show regarded as a love letter to fans was sure to rile up those same individuals. The ability is rare, and for good reason, because its use can look like lazy writing, a barb that many fans have already tossed at Filoni on social media. A more popular and well-received example of a user of the ability is the protagonist of the Star Wars Jedi video game series, Cal Kestis. The fan-favorite character, described as a Starkiller for the new generation of fans, manifested his psychometric abilities at an early age and has them prominently featured in the games he’s featured in.
Ahsoka‘s relative success is a godsend because Disney has been undergoing a harrowing cost-cutting campaign that has only ramped up lately, now including harsh actions like canceling the Spiderwick Chronicles series despite post-production on it being finished. While there might be one or two causes for complaints, the overall fan support for the project could be the key to seeing the team’s vision through.
Star Wars: Ahsoka is available for streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: @ianthetexan, @SeySeyMer, @FrjalsiFenrir